Funeral Detail - 11 Jan 06

Published on January 11, 2006 By chiprj In Blogging

I had my third funeral of this rotation today. We had a practice on Monday and I volunteered for this one as it would cause minimal trouble for my teaching schedule for the week. On Tuesday, I got a Soldier that volunteered to come with me and we practiced a two man fold of the flag. We then set up a time and place to meet and I let him go back to practicing the full honors detail with the rifles.

We met today at 0945 and I got the keys to the detail van. It was at the same chapel I had gone to on 4 Jan. I took a slightly different route and that was nearly a mistake. I ended up going the looooong way and very nearly thought I was lost at one point. We then came into downtown Salinas and I made another wrong turn and had to circle the funeral home again in order to find a parking space.

We went inside and I met the gentleman I had met at the previous funeral. He introduced me to the widow and some other family members. One of the sons was also a veteran and we spoke for a few moments. He was very appreciative that we had come out. I was then shown the prefolded flag and the gentleman from the funeral home asked if we could refold it. He wasn't very happy with how they had done it. I took it out to the waiting room and we refolded the flag there. I then took it back in to the chapel, replaced it on the pedestal next to the casket and saluted.

We had gotten there a bit early, so we were shown to the waiting room again. We were told that the service would be short and that our cue would be the song How Great Thou Art. It was about 20 minutes later that we heard the singing. We waited in the back of the chapel for the song to end. When it ended, the minister left the front of the chapel and nodded to me as he approached. I passed him in the aisle and marched to the pedestal with the flag. I centered myself on it and saluted. When Taps was complete, I took the flag down and presented it to the widow. She had been crying for most of the service, but when I presented the flag to her, she looked me straight in the eye and took in every word I said. I was moved by this woman's quiet dignity in that moment. I then saluted the flag a final time and marched out of the chapel. We packed up the bugle and I gave the case for the flag to the gentleman from the funeral home to pass on to the family.

My Ecosystem Details

Comments

pseudosoldier

on Jan 11, 2006

When Taps was complete, I took the flag down and presented it to the widow. She had been crying for most of the service, but when I presented the flag to her, she looked me straight in the eye and took in every word I said. I was moved by this woman's quiet dignity in that moment. I then saluted the flag a final time and marched out of the chapel.

With my dumb emotions, I would've broken at this point had I been in your place.

I really enjoy these articles, Chip.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!